Ultrashort pulse propagation through a strongly scattering medium : simulation and experiments

Forward light scattering of femtosecond pulses through strongly scattering media is investigated experimentally and numerically. Computations are based on a semi-Monte Carlo method including polarization effects when experiments depend on a Ti:sapphire regenerative amplifier (100 fs, 1 kHz, 1 mJ@ 800 nm). The temporal separation between ballistic light and scattered light is exhibited and used to perform optical depth measurements up to 22 (transmission factor of approximately 10(-10)). Quantitative comparisons between experiments and Monte Carlo simulations show a good agreement. Temporal forward scattered light evolutions with concentration and particle size are presented. Numerical results show that the early scattered light contains information on particle size, opening the way to particle sizing in strongly scattering media.